


A Torchwood Tale

by TaylorCee591



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Based on A Christmas Carol, But before "Miracle Day", But chill, Christmas fic, Gen, Got some swearies, I miss Jack, I'm proud of this one, Ianto isn't in it a lot, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Set After "Children of Earth", Ughh Jack, be prepared to say goodbye to him very quickly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-05 03:22:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5359268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaylorCee591/pseuds/TaylorCee591
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Christmas Eve and Jack is out of control.</p><p>Then he gets a few visits from some familiar faces, and one not so familiar, intending to show him the error of his ways. </p><p>Will Jack heed the warning?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ianto's Ghost

Jack was different now, to begin with.

There was no getting away from it at all; Captain Jack Harkness was a very different man to the one that used to run Torchwood Three. The man who had decided to wait a hundred years or more for his Doctor and decided to use that time to make the man proud. The one who had turned Torchwood from mercenaries to police officers of the extra-terrestrial. The man who had offered Toshiko Sato a 'get out of jail free' card, the man who had offered Owen Harper a reason to live, the man who had offered Ianto Jones a way to do some good and the man who had offered Gwen Cooper a chance to make a difference in the universe.

That man was dead as a door-nail because now this Captain Jack Harkness was standing in his castle screaming at the only remaining member of his team.

"Gwen, what do you think this is? This is not some fucking civil service job, you don't get holidays or a  _normal_  Christmas!"

"Then what do I get? When can I go home?" She was still pulling her coat on.

"You go home when I say you can! Sit down!" He was spitting but Gwen hardly reacted because this was how Jack was now. King of his castle and not about to let anyone tell him different.

"Jack, there is nothing going on! I already asked you to come to dinner with us and that way if there's anything we can both go from-"

"And what makes you think that I would want to spend Christmas with  _you_?" Gwen froze, that was a new one even for this Jack. He was throwing his arms around as he spoke and a mist had descended over his eyes. "You with your  _perfect_  life, in your  _perfect_  street, in your  _perfect_  house with your  _perfect_  husband and your  _perfect_  daughter? You think you have it so  _great_? Well, I'm telling you something right now, none of that matters! None of you out there matter! What we do here? That's what matters, so take your coat off and sit the fuck down!" His jaw was tight and his breathing rapid. How dare she think that what they do did not matter?

Gwen just flicked her hair out of her jacket and looked at him with those eyes; the exact same ones she gave Rhys when he said much the same to her outside that restaurant all those years ago, when it had all started. When Torchwood changed her life forever. "My family  _does_ matter, Jack, my daughter  _does_  matter. I love this job, I really do… or I did. But don't  _ever_  try to make me choose because you won't like the answer. Now, I am going home to my family and I am going to wake up tomorrow to open presents and have dinner. You can't stop me, Jack. Torchwood has not just become your life now,  _you_  have become it and I won't let that happen to me." She started to walk out.

"Gwen, get back here!" he screamed like a man losing grip of everything that he held dear.

She turned. "That offer of dinner still stands, if you change your mind." She walked away again.

"Gwen!"

"Merry Christmas, Jack." She left through the door, Jack let out a yell of frustration and kicked the little coffee table in front of the couch.

>><<

For the rest of the night Jack did what the two of them should have been doing, monitoring Rift activity and watching for anything that would need Torchwood's attention. If she wanted her normal life then she could have it. She didn't know it yet but when Gwen turned up on Thursday she would be going home early and permanently. Eventually, after hours of keeping an eye on the Rift while nothing stirred and catching up on paperwork, Jack rubbed his eyes and hair.

"You should really get some sleep, sir," a lone voice echoed into the base. A voice Jack knew better than his own.

Jack spun around in his chair to see someone he never expected to ever set eyes on again, and the sight made his stomach lurch with pain. He almost threw up on the spot as his eyes filled with tears. "Ianto?"

"It's getting late." There he was, clear as daylight, standing in front of Jack looking the exact same as the last day Jack had with him.

Jack stood and walked towards him. "Ianto? Am I dreaming?"

"I wouldn't call it that, sir, since you're awake," he quipped with the same look on his face, the one that said he was barely concealing a smirk.

Jack reached out and his hand connected with Ianto's face but he knew it wasn't real. "Whoa, whoa… What's going on?"

"Did you think that I had somehow came back to life and sneaked in here without you noticing?" He smirked fully, but it wasn't mockingly, it was as if he was thinking of a particular memory that made him smile.

"You were never very good at sneaking… or hiding." Jack smirked a little too at the memory he was now thinking of but he couldn't take in what he was seeing or feeling. He lowered his arm from Ianto's face; it didn't feel like him and if he couldn't touch him for real then Jack didn't want to touch this version.

"Yes, but in all fairness, sir…" He leaned forward a little. "I kind of wanted you to find me."

The pair laughed although Jack was still a little in shock. "This is... new for me. I've experienced a lot but… never this."

"What? The great Captain Jack Harkness has never had a past lover come back from the dead before? Well, it's good to know I was your first something considering you were so many firsts for me."

"What is going on here?" Jack spun to hold onto the desk and put his other hand on his forehead. "Am I ill or has someone poisoned me?"

"No Jack, I'm here to warn you."

"Warn me? What is this, a Charles Dicken's novel?" Jack spat, pissed off with whatever it was that was doing this to him. Even if it was his own head and he was only dreaming.

"Something like that. Sir, you've changed since I left you."

"I have not!" He looked up at the apparition insulted.

"You have and you know it. Look at you!" Jack smiled a little before catching himself, he had missed that amazing accent. "Jack… You're a monster."

Jack turned to Ianto with his face full of tears again. "Don't say that…"

"You are! When I died I had nothing-"

"You had me!" Jack's voice echoed up around them, his tears had become uncontrollable now. How could Ianto say that, _his_ Ianto? "You had Torchwood! I thought it meant something to you?"

"It did. Jack, you meant everything to me but when I died I never really  _had_  you because you were never truly mine, not one hundred percent and that was fine, I understood it all and I still do. But when I died, the only people that remembered me for what I was, the only ones who truly knew me were all under this roof. I gave my everything to Torchwood… to you. I did so many great things and my whole existence is now a distant deceased relative in my family's future and a file and drawer in here. That's it! And when you die, sir, what will they say of you? Think about that, Jack. Really think about that tonight when it happens." He paused. "Goodbye."

"When what happens? Ianto, don't go! I need you!" Jack shouted the words like a plea without even realising they'd been true until they came out.

"Do you? Then why couldn't you say it, Jack? In that building you held me in your arms, I told you I loved you and you couldn't say it back…" 

"I love you! I love you, Ianto!" Jack felt his knees wobble, as if it took undoing everything holding him together to admit that.

"No Jack, you might have  _loved_  me… There's no room for that in your heart anymore. It's full of darkness and hatred."

And with that Ianto Jones left Jack behind once again.

"Ianto?" Jack ran to where he had been standing. "Ianto?!" Jack crumbled on the spot and lay there crying and mumbling to himself. "I love you Ianto, I love you… Come back…"

>><<

After half an hour Jack managed to drag himself up from the floor and up the stairs to his office. When he got to the top, he turned to shut his door and looked at where the man had been stood in front of him. He wasn't coming back. Jack closed the door and climbed down into his bunker. He pulled his clothes off while thinking about what Ianto had said to him. 

_Why couldn't you say it, Jack?_

_What will they say of you?_  

He then climbed into his bed and rolled to face the wall before he drifted off to sleep almost instantly as tears dried on his face.


	2. The First of the Three Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack gets his first visitor, but is he ready for that kind of blast from the past?

Jack woke to a familiar noise. He groaned and closed his eyes again.

Not now, not him.

"Captain Jack Harkness?"

Jack groaned again and pulled the covers over his head as he heard someone descend the ladder and stop.

"I'm going to assume that _you_ are Jack?"

Now he hadn't heard  _that_  voice in a long time. 

Jack suddenly felt confused, why was he talking as if he didn't know him? So he turned to look at the man who he was sure he would never see again. "Doctor?"

"The one and the same." The man just smiled at Jack as he came off of the ladder and put his hands behind his back.

Jack turned properly to take in the sight before him; the short hair, the leather jacket, and let out a laugh. "I am definitely dreaming this time. What are  _you_  doing here?"

"You owe me a drink." He smiled again and didn't budge.

"Alright, first Ianto and now you… What's happening?" Jack remembered blindly following this man before, without needing much explanation. But that was a long time ago, another lifetime it felt like.

And that wasn't just _any_ Doctor in front of Jack, that was the very first Doctor Jack had ever met, the man that had let his companion be kidnapped by a barrage balloon and told a room full of people with gas-masks welded to their faces to go to their room then saved all of their lives, including Jack's.

"Did he not explain?" He rolled his eyes. "We're going on a trip." He pulled Jack's covers off of him and just stood there, waiting.

"Oi!" Jack stood up and came face to face with the Doctor, trying to threaten him. "What if I don't  _want_  to go?"

"Oh, do you not? Okay then, I'll just be going." He handed Jack the cover and made his way out of the bunker.

Jack rolled his eyes, dumped the bedding back on the mattress and pulled on his trousers before he followed him out of the office and into the main area of the base. "Where?"

"I though you weren't coming?" the man said, a bit smugly for Jack's liking, as he walked towards his TARDIS, which he'd parked in the middle of the room.

Not like him to be dramatic, thought Jack, sarcastically.

"Just tell me what's going on?"

"Get in and I'll tell you." He disappeared into the TARDIS.

"'Get in and I'll tell you'…" Jack mimicked and stuck his tongue out. "Ass." He followed the Doctor in and closed the door behind him.

It was exactly as it had been the first time he had stepped into it from his ship before it exploded. He could almost see Rose and the Doctor dancing around the console and laughing. It was obvious this was his Doctor, travelling to Jack for some reason or other, from way back who knows when.

"Where's Rose?" Jack asked, peering around the main console room.

The Doctor turned to look at him sharply, "Who's Rose?"

Jack's mouth almost fell open – if he hadn't met Rose yet then how did he know Jack?

"Doctor… None of this makes sense…" Jack shook his head. Something was wrong, something was very wrong. 

"I know. Listen Jack," He pulled levers and the TARDIS started moving, "I don't even know who you are, I suppose that I'll meet you at some point in my future and that I've already met you in your past and if that is true then what I have just said should make sense to you?" Jack nodded. "All I know is that one day my screwdriver started acting funny, it kept beeping when I wasn't even using it and only in here." He was pushing and pulling various things very relaxed as he spoke. "It acts up all the time but it was stranger than usual. So, eventually, I decided to really look into it, when I was finished with that business in the Radnox System – that took a while. Anyway I found a book in my library," he pointed to a book sitting on a chair to Jack's right and Jack picked it up to look at it, "that I didn't put in there." It was a notebook of some kind, it had lots of different bits of paper and pictures tucked in it. "Don't open it, Jack, it had this in it." He took the book from Jack's hands and replaced it with a post-it note.

It read 'Don't let Jack read the book, it contains his future and he needs to get there himself.'

Jack handed the Doctor back the note and nodded.

"I don't understand half of the things that I am saying to you, I don't even know you, Jack, all I know is that I left myself instructions and if I left them to myself then I should follow them."

Jack took in everything this man was saying – the man that had trusted him when he tried to trick them, the man who had saved his life and let him travel with him, the man who hadn't met his companion that would change his and Jack's life forever and the man who didn't even know him.

"Do you trust me?" the Doctor asked him.

Jack didn't have to think about it. "Yes."

The Doctor smiled. "Fantastic!"

Then he pulled a lever and the TARDIS jolted to a halt.

The two men walked to the TARDIS doors and the Doctor walked out first. When Jack appeared his face fell and his eyes widened. He wasn't sure if it was shock or terro or happiness or all of the above.

He was finally there. They were on the Boeshane Peninsula, in Jack's dining room looking at him and his family. Jack took a breath and ran back into the TARDIS before stopping to hold onto the console.

The Doctor followed him. "Jack this is a little different than what you or I are used to."

"I don't want to be here," Jack shook his head and swallowed the lump in his throat, "not unless I can save them so if you are not going to let me then we need to go… Now." He turned to the Doctor breathing rapidly and trying not to cry.

"This isn't an adventure… We're not exactly here. They can't see us and we can't affect anything. It's hard to explain and I don't have the time but they can't see, hear or even feel us. It's like a mirage," the Doctor explained.

"Then why did you bring me here?" Jack's word came crashing down again. He couldn't save them, there wasn't even a chance. Even if he disobeyed the Doctor there would still be no option.

"I wanted to show you what it was like. What  _you_  were like before." He gestured to the door. "Just keep trusting me, Jack."

Jack paused and then walked to the door. He stopped, closed his eyes briefly and exhaled. 

You can't save them, just look, even if it's all about one last time then just watch them, he reminded himself. One last time, he echoed.

The men took a step outside and looked on at the scene before them. Jack saw himself as a child eating with his family and he recognised the meal.

"It's Christmas?" Jack looked to the Doctor.

The man smiled and thought for a moment. "In the book it says that a lot of things have happened to you, a lot of bad things and you've lost a lot of people which has affected you. You've become hard and lost who you were which just can't happen Jack, horrible things will happen to the universe, earth and its population if you're not there to stop it."

"I am there, I'm always there." He smiled as his father handed young Jack bread.

"Yes you are, but not the Jack that Torchwood used to have and the Jack that it needs. You might not have realised but everything that you have been through, especially recently, has been slowly changing you and now it's gone too far. You're full of hate and regret."

"I've been through a lot since those days…" He wanted to cry at the scene before him knowing how it would end.

"I know you have, and that's why we're here. I'm here to show you how you used to be and how you were before it all corrupted and broke you. Come on."

He put a hand on Jack's back and they reluctantly turned around, the Doctor going inside.

Jack kept telling himself, it's a mirage, I can't help them and I can't save them, but even so he stopped with his left hand on the wood and took one last look at his family. His mother and father watching him and his brother playing. Just then, young Jack turned and looked right at Jack, the Captain took a quick breath in. The boy smiled and Jack did too, with a little laugh. The boy turned back to his brother and resumed their game.

Jack nodded to himself and stepped back inside, not turning around as he closed the TARDIS door _._  

The Doctor let Jack get himself together before he started up the TARDIS again.

"That was you at your most innocent and happy Jack," he said, "before all the bad started to creep in. Now, we need to go a little further forward in your past."

"I don't understand why you had to use Ianto." Jack said, thinking about how much it hurt to see his face again, to hear his words. "Why him?" He wiped his eyes and looked to the man as he flew his spaceship around Jack's timeline.

"I don't know Jack, I haven't done it yet. How did it feel, when you saw him?"

"Like all of my deaths come at once. Seeing his face again reminded me of everything I've ever lost. And the things he said..."

"Maybe that's why; you have pushed everything down and never dealt with it. Seeing him again, hearing what he has to say, it might have brought it all to the surface."

Jack paused. "I cried. I told him that I loved him and cried when he left." The Doctor looked up before pulled the lever that would land the TARDIS. "I haven't done that in a long time. As soon as I heard him it was right there at the edge and when I saw him I felt… so weak. He disappeared and I just cried."

"Well… Then that's why Jack." He put his hand on Jack's bare shoulder. "Would you have come with me if you hadn't admitted your feelings to him, heard what he had to say, cried and remembered the pain?"

Jack smiled slightly, "We'll never know."

They made their way to the doorway and stepped out again. This time they were met with a ball during the war. A ball that Jack remembered well.

"This isn't Christmas Jack but I had to show you something. I had to show you it from this side of the room."

They were stood beside a table across from Past Jack. Jack remembered sitting at that table, and this Future Jack followed the Past Jack's eyeline. It was looking at Captain Jack Harkness… The real one. And, in turn he was watching Past Jack.

"I wanted you to see it from his point of view. In this time and in this period of history doing what he is about to do… Was amazingly brave."

The man stood and walked slowly over to Past Jack.

"You told him to live this day like it was his last because you knew it was. You did that for him. You didn't do it so that he would dance with you, like he is now, you did it so that he wouldn't have regrets in his last moments."

They watched as every person in the room watched the men dancing.

"I wanted you to see it from his point of view because you were already able to see it all from his point of view." Jack looked at the Doctor a little confused. "When you chose that name to take you made a promise, much like I did, you made a promise about what kind of man you would be and what legacy you would continue on. You used to try and make him proud and I wanted you to see it again because you've forgotten."

They watched as the men kissed and Past Jack disappeared. The Real Jack stood there crying, eventually one of his men walked to him and put his hand on the real's Jack's shoulder. When they turned to each other and hugged, the rest of Jack's men gathered round him to do the same.

The Doctor ushered Jack slowly back into the TARDIS. "He took a chance Jack, it didn't matter to him that they accepted it, he was living that day like it was his last and on his last day… He wanted to dance with you."

Jack leaned against the railing thinking about the family dinner and that kiss. "Was he happy? In his last day, after that… Was that something that made him smile after the tears stopped?" Jack turned to The Doctor with tears streaming down his face. "I've asked myself those questions a million times and I think about my family every moment of every day. I think I've been trying to save them since I joined Torchwood. I just felt so helpless…" He trailed off.

The Doctor put his own hand on Jack's shoulder and hugged him.

"Thank you," Jack said. The Doctor pulled back to look at Jack. "For showing me those again… My family and Jack. I always wondered what happened when I left Jack there… it  _was_  1941 after all." He smirked and The Doctor smiled. He walked to the console and kicked the TARDIS into action. "Where are we going?"

"Home," the man replied.

"Home? Why? Is that what the book says?" The Doctor didn't answer for a while before Jack looked down. "I'm bare chested…"

"I noticed."

"I forgot about that…" They laughed as the TARDIS stopped again. "Why am I going home now?"

The Doctor walked to the door and opened it for Jack. Jack huffed and walked out of it thinking he'd never get an answer but the Doctor took a step out of it himself.

"I've showed you how things used to be Jack. But your night isn't over yet, Ianto was supposed to explain it to you. You'll get another visit tonight, from someone else you'll recognise and they'll explain it further… I have to go. There's a strange reading coming from a department store in London that I need to check out."

He smiled and stepped back inside his TARDIS. Jack turned but spun back around as the Doctor stuck his head out and said the man's name again.

"Jack, get some sleep and… maybe put some clothes on this time." They shared a smile and the man ducked back inside his machine.

Jack stood and watched the TARDIS disappear.

He felt like he should say something but couldn't get an syllables out.

Jack rubbed his head and walked up to his office before jumping back to his bunker. He felt overcome with exhaustion all of a sudden. This was going to be a long night and he needed some sleep. He barely had time to reach his bunk before he found himself in a deep sleep.


	3. The Second of the Three Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's experience continues but is the message beginning to sink in?

This time the noise didn't wake Jack, what did was a bang. He shot up in his bunk to see the Doctor standing there in the bunker having just jumped down into it.

"Hello, Jack." The man stood there, hands in his trouser pockets, holding his jacket open and looking concerned down at the Captain. This wasn't the Doctor that had left Jack a few hours ago. No, this was the Doctor who left Jack a few _years_ ago.

His consciousness returned to him just in time to realise just who he was faced with. "Oh god…" He leaned back down and rubbed his eyes. "I had a feeling it would be you."

"What? Why are you saying it like that?" The Doctor walked along the bunker a little looking at the floor. "Anyone would think that you didn't want to see me." Jack groaned and rolled over on the bed. "Jack!" The Doctor pulled the covers off of Jack as if it had been a table cloth. "Listen to me ,it's important."

He then ran up the ladder with the covers, Jack growled as he got up and followed him. The Doctor stopped in the office and turned until he saw Jack's face, then he ran halfway down the stairs.

"Jack, wait, wait, wait! Just hear me out!"

"I don't need to hear you out," he walked down the stairs after the Doctor, who took them backwards, "I've already had a couple of visitors tonight and I'm tired."

"Still not dressed either." The man smirked and Jack looked away to the side while laughing.

"Alright, you have _two_ minutes." He walked back the way he had come, down the ladder to grab a shirt and emerged in the office again as the Doctor leaned against the doorway.

"I gather that I've already been here tonight. Well… I say 'me' but you know what I mean." Jack nodded. "That was to show you how it used to be and I'm here to show you how it is now."

"This is  _really_  starting to feel like something out of an old book. Alright… Lead the way." Jack gestured his arms and bowed his head a little.

"Well then… Allonsy!" He ran down the stairs in his brown suit and converse. Jack let out a laugh before yawning and following him still bare foot. He stepped into the TARDIS and looked around.

"So, where are you up to?" Jack asked, looking around at the ship he once dared to wish was his home.

"What do you mean?" This Doctor was already spinning the rims on the TARDIS before Jack had even shut the door.

"Well, the last 'you' hadn't even met me yet so… Where are _you_?"

"Oh right, I see… Well, Martha just went home." He looked down at the console and swallowed. "It got complicated… She fancied me." Jack laughed. "What?"

"Nothing. it's just weird to think that I had not long returned here after you dropped me off, in your timeline anyway. And yet that was so long ago for me…" Jack took a breath. "Okay then…" The TARDIS stopped. "What now?"

"Now, Jack… I show you the present." He ran to the door and stepped out. Jack followed him onto the streets of Cardiff. "This is the same year, the same day but a bit earlier, before the shops shut for the holidays."

They looked around to see people rushing around the shops, they were all wrapped up against the cold and carrying countless bags as they did their last minute shopping, Jack smiled at the Salvation Army choir filling the air with song, children joined in as they skipped passed and lights lined the streets as far as the eye could see.

"I'm showing you what you're missing, Jack. Locked away in that base and bunker of yours all you see is what comes up on your monitors and what you have to aim a gun at. Look at this lot, this is the human race, Jack, celebrating life."

He started pointing to various people and things.

"They are laughing," he pointed to children running around, "smiling," he pointed to a man walking his dog through the streets, "stressing," he pointed to a woman who was rushing in and out of the crowds, "being honest," he pointed out a man who picked up a wallet in the street and ran after another man who had just dropped it to give him it, the man's face showed so much relief that he shook the man's hand hard, "being generous," he pointed to a woman with quite a lot of bags before gesturing to another woman giving her child money to put in the donation box and finally he pointed out three men walking along laughing and stumbling, " and being merry."

Jack and the Doctor shared a chuckle before the bell rang out and a group of people emerged from the church. "While there is so much evil and bad in the world, Jack, the human race keeps the faith and cherishes the good in it all. And you…" He turned to Jack, "You're missing it all while you save the world."

Jack smiled at a dad who started running around with his son shooting imaginary laser guns, in and out of the shoppers until the dad fell down in the street after the kid had shot him. They laughed together as the dad grabbed his son and tickled him. Jack laughed himself and looked up at the stars the kid started pointing to.

The Doctor smiled at Jack even though he couldn't see it. "Come on." He walked back inside the TARDIS and Jack reluctantly followed him. Jack thought about the times that he, Gray and their Dad played back home before he noticed the book on the chair in the TARDIS.

"Did you write that?" He pointed to it when the Doctor finally looked up from starting the TARDIS.

"What? No… It was left for me."

"In your library?" Jack didn't attempt to pick it up this time. When he didn't get an answer and the TARDIS stopped he turned to see the Doctor watching him. "What?"

"Nothing… But this one might be a bit…Too perfect for you." The Doctor's face was somewhat solemn and worried and it unnerved Jack a little.

Jack hesitated before he walked towards the door and opened it. He wished he hadn't.

He was met with the sight of Gwen, Rhys, Anwen and Mary all getting ready to go to bed. The three adults watching and helping Anwen, who was five years old now, put out milk, cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer. Jack watched Gwen's face as Anwen insisted she had to taste the milk to make sure it was cold enough for Santa. Gwen and Anwen laughed as she told her daughter that she'd had enough and Rhys took his little girl to bed. Gwen and Mary started putting various things away talking about their plans for tomorrow and presents they had bought the others.

Mary looked at the tags on them all under the tree. "Who is this one for?" She held it up to show Gwen.

"That was for Jack." Jack suddenly felt guilty as the smile fell from Gwen's face.

"Oh, you're not still trying with that man!" Mary said, her face showing her displeasure as she stood up from kneeling on the floor by the tree. "He's a horrible person Gwen, just leave him to it."

"Mum, can we not do this please?" Gwen said as she wiped the kitchen counter.

"Do what?" Rhys came back into the room.

"Gwen has gotten her boss a Christmas present," Mary informed him as if she were telling the teacher.

"I know, I helped her wrap it," Rhys replied.

Jack looked at the Doctor in shock and he just smiled while Mary looked at her son-in-law confused.

"Yes, he's horrible and mean and a dick but you didn't know him before, Mary, not really. He was kind, thoughtful and he risked his life a million times over for Gwen." He put his hand on Gwen's shoulder and squeezed it affectionately.

"Well if you hadn't been in that job then he wouldn't have had to," Mary spat petulantly.

"Mary, just shut up!" Rhys shouted and even Gwen was surprised at that. "I'm sorry, you know I love you to pieces because you're my family but Gwen was never happier than she was at that place. I saw it in her eyes. Yes, it's dangerous and yes I wished she wouldn't want to be there but she did and I wouldn't have taken that away from her. She loved that place and he would have done everything to make sure that she came back to me. And for that I will always love that man." Gwen hugged into her husband's side.

"Why are they talking in past tense? I thought this was the present?" Jack looked to the Doctor and he didn't say anything because he didn't have to when Gwen spoke.

"Well, you won't have to worry anymore, Mum," she said, sighing.

"Why?" Mary looked between them.

"Because _that_ Jack is gone and the Torchwood that I loved died with him. I've tried, I really have but I can't watch Jack torment himself anymore. It's not the same so, I'll go and see Jack on Thursday… I'm quitting Torchwood." She looked down sadly, as if she actually were avoiding Jack's eyeline.

Rhys kissed Gwen's forehead. "Now, are you sure this is what you want?"

Gwen nodded. "Yes. _My_ Jack Harkness died a long time ago."

Jack turned and walked back inside the TARDIS. He walked up to the console before he turned to look at the book as the Doctor followed him in. "Why can't I read it?"

"Because you can't." The Doctor picked it up and took it with him to the other side of the console sensing what Jack was thinking about.

"I didn't mean to change, it just happened when I was trying to deal with everything else. I don't want her to quit…" Jack shook his head.

"No?" The Doctor looked at Jack as he started up the TARDIS again.

"Of course not. I don't want Torchwood to change, I don't want _me_ to change…" He rubbed his face. "I've just spent all of this time wishing I could have all of my team back and while I've been doing that I've been slowly losing the one person I do have left. Rhys is right… I have been a dick." Jack looked up to see the Doctor smile and stop the TARDIS. "Where are we?"

"Torchwood. My job is over, Jack." He walked to the door and opened it for the Captain.

Jack walked out and turned to look at his Doctor. "What now?"

"Now Jack, you should really get some more sleep. It's, oh…" The Doctor looked at his wrist and realised he didn't have a watch.

Jack looked at his. "Nearly eleven?"

"Yeah, sorry about that. You need to get some sleep because your night isn't over yet, Jack. I'll see you again later and… You're gonna need energy to keep up with that one." He looked at Jack with a strange look, like he was trying to make a joke that he didn't understand. As if he had read it out of a book written for someone else.

"Any chance you could give me an approximate time, Doctor?" Jack asked knowing the answer.

The man took a step inside and smiled before closing the door and dissolving in the air.

Jack sighed and made his way back to his bunker for the third time that night.

 


	4. The Last of the Spirits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack's journey is almost over but has it made an impact and just who is this guy with the bow tie?

Jack woke up by himself this time and looked at the clock, it was six in the morning so he slowly changed into new clothes and made his way up to get coffee. However, he didn't make it that far as he came to the door of his office and saw the TARDIS sitting there in the Hub. Jack could see right right away that it looked brand new. As the door opened smoke escaped into the air.

A man edged out backwards with a fire extinguisher aimed inside and closed the door before spinning to look at Jack. "Who are you?"

"Jack…" Jack looked at the man wondering if he was actually dreaming this time. The longer hair, the cropped trousers, the shirt, the braces and the bow tie, it was all very different from the man that had left Jack last night. But, Jack thought about how different that was from the face of the man who had left him the night before. He would have flashed back to the last time he had to deal with three men in such quick succession but was too mystified by what was unfolding around him.

"Jack!" The man's eyes went wide. "Good, I'm glad it's you!" He looked quickly around the place as if assessing some situation Jack was unaware of, or even part of. He could see the wild calculations in the way his eyebrows went up, the probably unforgiving percentages of prevailing in the way he ruffled his hair and pulled the ends, he could see the process of elimination that told him that it was either his best bet or his only chance in the way he blew out.

"Don't you remember me?" Jack looked at the man confused.

"What?" He glanced in Jack's direction but never quite got all the way there, as he lifted his head before he looked back to what he was holding. "Of course I do! I've been a little… busy. I forget things and faces, I remember eventually. Here." He handed Jack the fire extinguisher and began to speak quickly again, Jack recognising it as the Doctor's decision to _Allonsy_. "See, of course I remember you. You don't give just anyone your fire extinguisher." He clapped his hands together. "Now!" He opened the TARDIS door and poked his head in before coughing and looking back at Jack. "Ready to go?" He then disappeared inside.

"Is it safe in there?" Jack thought about putting the extinguisher down but decided that he was probably better taking it in with him. The man shouted something and Jack walked in waving his free arm around trying to see. "What did you say?"

"I said, are you inside yet?" The Doctor's voice was far away from Jack and he wondered if he would lose this strange man in the numerous hallways and rooms in the TARDIS.

"First time I've been asked that," Jack mumbled. "Yes!" He shouted before he turned as the TARDIS door shut on its own. "What is your role in all of this?" he shouted again, trying to see in the smoke and coughing but not bothering to lift his hand to his mouth, it wasn't like he would die of smoke inhalation or anything. Or, if he did, he'd wake up eventually.

All of a sudden the man appeared in front of Jack. "Why are you shouting? Anyway, you could say that I… wrote the book."

"Why would I say that?" Jack watched the man as he moved close to Jack and looked from one pupil to the other, the way you do to see if someone is on drugs or not and Jack thought he should be doing the same.

"Because I wrote the book." He held the book up to Jack and then threw it into the smoke.

"Well, that was responsible." Jack walked towards the light he determined was the middle of the TARDIS and fumbled around trying to put the extinguisher on the floor.

"It'll turn it up again. Can't see anything so I can't see anywhere good to put it therefore anywhere is a good place." He waved his hands and disappeared into the smoke again. "I am here to show you your future, Jack. Oh, hold on that isn't meant to happen." Jack heard running and a loud bang. "Are you ready?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course you do. But I need to get out of here so… Geronimo!" Jack heard a noise and the TARDIS started with a jolt, making Jack grab for the console.

When it stopped the man ran to, what Jack could only assume was, the door like a dog welcoming it's owner. Jack couldn't think of a better way to describe the Doctor and Time. "Doctor, I can't see the w-?" Before he could finish his sentence the man grabbed his wrist and pulled him out of the door.

Jack was standing in a kitchen that he didn't recognise. He looked around trying to gleam some idea of whose house they were standing in. "Whose house is this?" he asked when he gave up.

"Kids! I've put the DVD on for you!" a woman shouted over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen and a man followed her.

"I know her," Jack said, suddenly remembering, "Rhiannon, Ianto's sister." Jack took a step towards the pair.

"This is three years in the future, Jack," the Doctor said.

A man came in from upstairs covered in sawdust and fluff holding a cardboard box that looked old and forgotten.

"Rhi, I found this in the attic while I was clearing it. Whose is it 'cause it's not mine?" He put the box on the kitchen counter and Rhiannon turned to look.

"It's just a box of Ianto's things, Johnny." She hesitated then turned back to moving things around on the counters as the kids came running down the stairs and went into the living room.

"Well, what should I do with it, do you want me to put it back?"

She didn't even turn around. "No, throw it out."

"What?" Jack couldn't believe it. "She hasn't even looked inside?" He gestured to it and looked at the Doctor.

"You sure, love?" The man picked it up again.

"Yeah, he didn't care about us when we was alive so why would I care about his stuff now that he's dead?" She shrugged and wiped where the box had been.

"Yeah," Johnny agreed, "he thought he was so  _important_." She hummed in agreement as her husband dropped the box in the bucket full of wrapping paper and joined his children in the living room.

"He  _was_  important!" Jack shouted and the Doctor put his hand on her shoulder. "He is..."

"Jack… they can't hear you," the Doctor reminded him.

"But, he did so much and… they don't even know!" Jack turned around as his coat flipped into the TARDIS with the Doctor following him. "Where am I in all of this? I should have told them everything that he did, how many times he saved the world," He kept close behind the the Doctor as he walked to the console and started the TARDIS, "how many times he risked his life for us, all of us, not just Torchwood but the world, the  _universe!_ Ianto was right; when he died he had nothing." He leaned on the console and hung his head.

"He had you?" the Doctor said, looking at Jack as the smoke thinned a little but not enough for Jack to see anything else.

"I thought that too but now I realise that having me was the same as having nothing." Jack lifted his head. "I am nothing compared to that man; when I risk my life it doesn't mean anything but when he did it… He was amazing. He was a better man than me and they have no idea." He gestured to the door as he turned and walked back a little, he felt like he wanted to go out there and scream it all in the their faces but he knew all that would achieve would be a burn in his throat. And yet he wondered if it might be worth it. "He's just a distant memory to them and not even one that they cherish." Jack leaned on the railing and the TARDIS stopped.

They walked to the door and stepped out into a street that Jack didn't recognise. "Where are we?" he asked, tired and gravely, not sure if he could take much more.

"We are in Ireland, Jack. Lovely place Ireland, brilliant people if a little scary. Good scary though… Sometimes," the Doctor rambled.

Just then a man ran towards them shouting over his shoulder. "Please! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He convulsed mid-stride and fell down in a dead heap. A version of Jack from the future who had been standing behind the man lowered his gun and kept walking, his coat still billowing behind him.

A man ran along behind Future Jack talking to him, looking up at the unfazed expression on Jack's face. "Why did you do that, he made a mistake, he didn't understand?"

"I don't care," Future Jack said casually, "he killed those people so I killed him." Future Jack walked up to the man and with a quick glance he turned around again. "This is Torchwood, kiddo! This is how I do things." He shrugged.

"But Torchwood used to be the good guys," the man who seemed to be an apprentice of some kind said, looking at the man on the floor then to Jack, "the guys who fought to do the right thing when the rest wouldn't?"

Jack turned quickly and brought his face close to the lad's. " _That_ Torchwood is dead just like everyone else, kid. There's just me now. I _am_ Torchwood and Torchwood is King."

"Then, I'm sorry, Mr Harkness." Future Jack gasped in surprise as a shot rang out and his body jolted from his abdomen. "Merry Christmas, sir. From my mother…Lynn Pierce." Jack grasped at the man and fell to his knees. "And my sister… Jasmine. I lost her that day, I never even knew her, and ten years later, I lost my mother. I was only eight. She never got over what you did!" Jack fell onto all fours and the man leaned down to spat his words. "She killed herself and it was your fault, Harkness. So say goodbye to Torchwood because when  _you_  die so does the darkness you bring into the world." He dropped the gun as Jack took his last breath and died. He looked up to the stars. "I did it, Mum."

After a minute when the man had turned from the body and began to walk away Jack took his next breath. As he did so the man turned around to look. Jack picked up the gun and aimed it at the young man.

"No!" Present Jack shouted as he watched Future Jack shoot the kid.

"Torchwood will never die." He jumped up and walked away with a smirk on his face. "Long live the King."

"Why did I do that? He was just a kid!" This Jack turned to the Doctor. "I have to stop this. I have to. Help me change this!" He ran back into the TARDIS and the Doctor followed him. "Where is it?" He searched around, the smoke had begun to clear a little more, Jack could see the floor and distant lights as well as a chair. "Come on!" He spotted it on the floor.

"Jack, no!" The Doctor stopped in front of the Captain as he picked up the book.

"Why not? You said I have to change it and I  _want_  to so why can't I read this if it's going to achieve that?"

"Jack, you need to get there on your own because that's how all of this happens. If you read that then you will change it, what you read won't happen. I promise you that it won't, Jack." He shook his head.

"But  _you've_  read it?"

"I wrote it Jack, Everything that has happened has happened because at the end of all of this, I wrote it down. At the end! I need to get to the  _end_  of this before I write it." He reached out and slowly took the book from Jack. "You want to change all of this then… Change it."

Jack shook his head. "But how?"

"Jack you've seen a lot tonight." He pulled a lever and the TARDIS sprang into action. "You'll probably feel strange for a while but trust me Jack, this is not a dream." He put his hand in his jacket pocket and held out his screwdriver to Jack. "Oh hold on, that's not it." He looked at it before he put it back in his pocket. "That's my screwdriver, I kind of need that…" He patted all of his pockets before making noises of triumph.

"Different screwdriver as well as a different face?" Jack asked and they laughed as the Doctor produced a candy cane and handed it to Jack. "Em… Thanks?"

The TARDIS stopped in the Hub for the last time that night and they stepped back into Torchwood, Jack turned on the spot as the Doctor stood in the doorway of his machine with his hands clasped in front of him. "Proof." He gestured to the candy cane Jack was still holding with caution.

"Right." Jack held onto it and wondered if the man before him remembered the things they had done together.

The man walked into his TARDIS, "Oh, Jack…" Jack thought himself crazy but the look on his face was as if he was answering Jack, telling him that of course he did and he would never forget. The Doctor turned around and stuck his head out of the door, "Merry Christmas, Jack Harkness. Change the world… Captain." He saluted Jack who just let out a laugh as the door closed and the box faded from sight.

He walked to the kitchen to pour himself coffee and sat at the table he had kicked in frustration earlier.

He thought about all he had seen.

He marvelled at seeing his first Doctor again, at how different he seemed before he'd met Rose. He was harsher in a way, as if he'd built up walls after some great heartbreak or loss in his life. It was comforting, Jack knew, that that man still had all of that to come. That he'd see Jack for the first time and take him as he was. Jack felt sad that the two times they had met were when Jack was trying to con him and when he was like this. He thought about the man's jacket and wide smile, and then realised that he hadn't seen him smile this time. Jack thought about how, between the bare minimum clothing and hardly-there hair, he seemed to have been stripped down to his bones. As if he'd been purged of all of his smiles and flair. Jack wondered if sometimes a house becomes a home when there's a garden. He took a sip and thought about vines covering the TARDIS and then realised that vines wouldn't do - they'd have to be roses.

Then Jack thought if that's why he changed so drastically. He went from bare minimum, not to over the top, but as if he felt brave enough to dip his toe in the water. The hair, the changing suits, the long jacket, the more sprite actions and gestures, the spontaneous jokes and laughs and the flair by which he executed his plans. He took joy in his work, he interacted rather than co-existing with humanity. Jack had read the files Torchwood had on the Doctor, laughing at the memory of reading that he was the reason for it's birth in the first place.

He even remembered reading the note of a guardsmen who arrived after an attack on the home of Queen Victoria who recalled the Doctor and his companion's apparent amusement when Her Majesty proclaimed that she was far from it. Jack could imagine her exact words and chuckled himself when he read it. He remembered when they worked with Martha and how different that man looked. He didn't look bare like he had done before, he looked like his heart was breaking but somehow he had juice to function because he had to.

Jack knew now that the Rose having been in his life had given the Doctor that juice, the way that Ianto had for Jack, as well as countless others before him. And Jack really meant countless, as much as he remembered every time he fell in love there was a part of him that didn't want to know just how many times he'd had to lose them. How many times he's held Ianto in his arms and cried, wishing he could take his place, wishing this wasn't happening, wishing he wouldn't wake up.

But somehow, Jack thought, he kept going. What other choice did he have?

And then he thought about the last man, the one who had just left him. He thought about how changed he seemed. He was wild and over the top, he ran as if he didn't have complete control of his limbs, he exposed his mind's processes in his actions, he dressed like an older man, a teacher even, and yet he didn't ooze hurt like he once had, he didn't seem to be someone with painful memories or emotional defences. Jack thought about how fresh he looked, how he gave the illusion that he was a mere child, just starting out in his dream to see the stars. Then Jack thought that maybe he'd lived so long he'd forgotten, not completely but in the way that Jack did, how he fell in love time and time again knowing how it was going to end for him, there was a level of forced forgetting there that Jack saw in the last Doctor's eyes. Jack wondered if it was in his eyes.

But he knew that it wasn't, because it had been and it had died, that's why Ianto had said there was no room in his heart for that now. He wasn't as strong as the Doctor, he knew that, he knew he was the one who was a mere child in the Doctor's eyes. He thought about Owen and Tosh, how she had loved him and he had never known. Maybe he had in his last moments when she was the only one there, maybe she had told him, Jack would never know but he hoped that she had, he hoped that she had died knowing that she had told him. Because he hadn't. He remembered looking in Ianto's eyes and how Ianto had said that Jack would forget him. Jack thought about how he didn't want to remember all of the times he'd been heartbroken and realised that  _that's_ what Ianto meant by calling him a monster. He wasn't the kind who hid under your bed or chased you with a gun, he was what Ianto always feared. He'd forgotten him, forgotten the man he was, to Jack and to the world. He'd forgotten the way that Ianto had fought to be noticed by them, fought to be a brother in arms, fought to be something to jack, something more than a passing attraction or lover. Ianto told Jack his fear in his last moments, he didn't need to hear Jack say he loved him, he told Jack that he'd forget Ianto because that would be worse than never loving him and Jack had told him he never could forget him, it was like his parting promise.

And he'd broken it. 

While he still remembered him, he'd forgotten his place in Jack's life, he'd forgotten his worth.

He'd forgotten everyone. He'd made a crown and called himself King while the kingdom he had forged out of immortality and a strong stomach still stood, hard and lasting. The only problem was that the King was alone on his throne. In a blink of an eye he was the enemy within the walls. Jack decided he didn't want a crown or the stronghold. He wanted to be in the trenches with his army, playing cards at night and doing anything he could to keep them safe. He wanted to be a brother in arms again, not a King.

He looked down at his cold cup of coffee, untouched, and remembered the real Captain Jack Harkness. He remembered how he was a hero, how he was a Captain but he was in amongst them all, he was a part of the team, he wasn't above them, he rolled his sleeves up and got dirty like the rest of them. He died protecting his brothers because he was one of them, not high on some throne watching everyone die and waving his hand to send in the next set of pawns.

And then Jack thought about Gwen and her family, what she had been through to still be standing by Jack's side, hoping and praying that one day he'd look around a see exactly what he'd become. He thought about how there were no mirrors in his castle and they all knew why. He thought about the way Rhys spoke about him, how he'd loved Jack for saving Gwen, how he'd been that man once, he'd been someone's savour, he'd had their back.

He thought about killing the man in Ireland, he almost felt the gun in his hand as he took down that poor boy who lost his sister before he was even born and how that frightened child lost his mother and only understood one thing - that Jack Harkness hadn't tried to stop it. He knew he'd deserved to die at the hands of that boy, how years ago he may have let him think he was dead, how he might have tried to make him see he'd done the right thing. But then he knew he hadn't, she was just a child and he'd sacrificed her like a lamb to the slaughter. Why? Because it was easier.

Jack lowered his head into his hands and opened his eyes to the darkness. He wondered what Owen had seen when he'd died, was he surrounded by darkness or was he surrounded by the memories of what he'd done. Jack closed his eyes and wished he could change it all.

But he couldn't and as he raised his head he knew, thinking of the box of Ianto's things in the trash, that he had to change the future, change now, and that he would. There was no way that he was going to let this happen. He wasn't going to lose Gwen too. And he wanted to remember Ianto, and Owen and Tosh, and Gray and all of them. He wanted to live and have lived. If he was going to live forever he wanted to  _live it._

He stood up, feeling determined and ready, and made a fresh cup of coffee. He knew he was going to need it - today was going to be different… and tiring.


	5. The End of It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While things aren't going to change overnight, there's one thing Jack has to do to get the ball rolling.
> 
> There's one person he has to see.

"Oi missus!" Rhys picked up and threw a sprout back at his daughter.

"Will you stop teaching your daughter to throw food about?" Mary warned Rhys but she was smiling.

Then the doorbell went. "That's the doorbell?" Gwen looked to Rhys confused but not moving, telling him that she wasn't answering it as she picked up her cutlery to tuck in.

"I'll get it love." He stood up and walked into the hall. "Who could that be on Christmas Day?" After he opened the door there was some mumbling before Rhys appeared back in the room and Jack followed with bags.

"Jack?" Gwen stood up leaving her cutlery on the table.

"Hey Gwen…" Jack looked around at the table, he noticed there wasn't a place set for him and it made him feel worse - she never thought he'd actually come. "I'm sorry for just turning up like this but you did say the offer was still open?" She looked at him unsure of how to react to this. "I come in peace?" He put his hands up and realised he was carrying bags. "And with presents." He handed them to Rhys. "Can we talk…?" Gwen walked around the table and gestured with her head to the living room. "Rhys, can you come too?" Gwen and Rhys looked at each other before walking through where Rhys dropped the bags on the couch.

"What's going on, Jack?" Rhys started. "If you're here to drag her back to work then-"

"No, no, no." Jack put his hands up. "I'm here to say I'm sorry."

Gwen turned her head slightly. "What?"

"I've been a dick." He looked at Rhys who didn't get the reference. "Ever since Ianto died…" Gwen looked down with sadness and misplaced guilt. Jack let himself tear up. Rhys was looking at Jack and hit Gwen to get her attention, she looked up and he pointed to the Captain. She saw him let a tear fall.

"Jack? Jack, what's happened?" She took a step forward to put her hand on his arm but hesitated, she knew exactly how Jack acted now and although this was obviously different she didn't know exactly what was going on. She crossed her arms and waited for him to explain.

"If only you could understand the night I've had..." Jack put his hands on his hips and looked up trying not to cry anymore. He took a long breath out and decided it was now or never. "I've just come to some realisations about everything that's happened over the years, and I never let on just how much Gwen, I never do because it's a lot... I play it down but it's certainly a lot. And it has affected me and it's changed me. I thought that those changes made me a better person and made me the man that led Torchwood. I've realised that although I _have_ changed it's not for the better; I've become untrusting, dark and different. And I also realised that I'm in danger of becoming something more destructive than either of us can ever imagine. So I came here because I wanted to ask you not to quit."

"How did you know-" Gwen looked at Jack questioningly. Almost mistrusting.

He cut her off. "I wouldn't have put up with half of what you have from me, Gwen and I would have ran away a long time ago if I had..." He looked around at the decorations, the tree, cards and pile of wrapping paper. He looked at Rhys before looking behind him to the kitchen where Mary was talking to her granchild, "If I had what you had." He turned back to Gwen still with a glisten in his eyes. "Please… Please forgive me and please don't quit. I couldn't stand it if you quit, it would be bad enough if you decided that you didn't want to be there anymore but if you left because of me then... I couldn't handle it. I don't want to be the person I've become anymore," he shook his head, "I don't. I want to go back to the Jack that I used to be," The image of his childhood flashed into his mind. "the Jack I promised to be," he felt that kiss again, "and the Jack that... Ianto loved." He saw that man again, the man dying in his arms and the man who stood before him not twenty-four hours ago telling him that he didn't have room left for love in his heart. "Ianto..."

"Why are you here, Jack?" Gwen's arms had fallen to her sides and she put that hand on Jack's arm.

"Because I can't do it without you; I can't change without you and I can't be Torchwood on my own. I need you to stop me, Gwen. Because you with your _perfect_ life, in your _perfect_ street, in your _perfect_ house with your _perfect_ husband and your _perfect_ daughter? You think you have it so _great_? Well, I'm telling you something right now," it was then that Jack reached into his inside pocket and handed Gwen a candy cane, she took it with confusion on her face but Jack didn't care because by the end of tonight they all would understand, "you matter." Gwen smiled at Jack and Rhys knew he was done for.

No one said anything for a few minutes before Rhys huffed.

"Well, come on then you two, the foods getting cold." He smiled and walked back to the table where his daughter was covered in gravy. "Look at you, you messy little angel!"

"Food's all over there, Jack. Help yourself." Gwen sat back down at her table and laughed at her daughter's face.

Mary stood up in front of Jack and the food. "I'll tell you one thing, Jack Harkness-"

"Mum…" Gwen looked back up at the confrontation.

"Wait, I just want to say this. If anything happens to her because you neglected her then I will spend forever making sure you never forget it." She pointed at him.

"You won't have to, Mary." He looked down at her. "I'll do it to myself."

She looked at Gwen and Rhys then turned back to Jack standing there. "Then you get your coat off and sit down, I'll get you something to eat." She side-stepped him and picked up an empty plate. "Do you just want a bit of everything?"

The three adults shared a look of surprise before Jack winked. "Don't I always?"

"Oi you!" Rhys laughed and gestured his head to his daughter. Jack made his apologies and took his coat off before sitting down on the other side of Rhys.

Mary put a plate down in front of him. Jack then proceeded to tell Gwen about his night. The other two looked on slightly bewildered and Jack knew that Gwen only half understood but he wanted to let this family into his life. Then he told them about his plans; to visit Lynn and her family and that he wanted Gwen to come with him when he went to the Jones's household tomorrow where he would tell them about the Ianto they never knew about.

The Ianto that saved the universe, the Ianto that saved the world and the Ianto that saved their lives countless times.

The Ianto that Jack loved.


End file.
